


watermelon sugar high

by miimin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Colleagues to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, One Millisecond of Angst, hes dramatic about being in love, jaehyun pinning since day 1, jaewin best buds!!, johnwinil as the yujae support club, pure optimist yuta and his golden smile, wholesome content for the soul, yujae in their own paradise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25072501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miimin/pseuds/miimin
Summary: “Sicheng! Holy shit!” Jaehyun slams open Sicheng’s office doors. He completely ignores Taeil sat on the desk feeding his best friend a slice of cake. “I need to quit!” He’s almost never like this but there’s something about Yuta that draws out a manic frenziness in him.“No you don’t. You need to work with Yuta no matter how weird your ten minute old crush on him is,” Sicheng explains after he hears Jaehyun’s retelling of the incident. “You don’t get it, Sicheng. If I continue working here, I’ll embarrass myself in front of God!”
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Moon Taeil, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 9
Kudos: 110





	watermelon sugar high

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yujaeyu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yujaeyu/gifts).



> a commission for oli! thank you so much for waiting ♡♡♡ i hope this fic is to your liking!
> 
> i've always wanted to steer away from writing a school setting and one where they're in a work setting, offering a larger sense of freedom, you get me? i never thought i'd write about a country club but here i am. i've had so much fun writing this fic and i hope whoever reads this like it too (o´▽`o)  
> (stay tuned to read the end notes too!)

It’s a month after graduating from university. Jaehyun is all tuckered out from travelling around the country with friends and spending too many hours a day glued to the computer playing whatever games he had piled in his wishlist. Now, the full realisation that he is unemployed and in need of money dawns upon him. 

That’s how Jaehyun ended up at his best friend’s country club. 

_ “Why don’t you work at my family’s country club? It’s away from the city, it pays decently and you get free accommodation,” Sicheng crunches on a blueberry popsicle he stole from Jaehyun’s fridge. Unlike Jaehyun, Sicheng has been having significantly less problems finding a job. His eyes are set on taking over the said country club once his father enjoys being a guest more than running the place. His determination shows in terms of how he clinched a manager’s position in the logistics department two weeks after graduation. _

_ “And you could really afford to learn a thing or two from there,” _

_ “What’s that supposed to mean?” Jaehyun cranes his head up. _

_ “It means you need to learn how to housekeep. That empty can of soda hasn’t moved since the last time I came here. It’s been four days” _

Sicheng does have a point. That’s how he ends up in the country club a week later, looking more like a guest than a to-be staff. The first day and its subsequent two weeks go swimmingly. He looks hot in his suit vest uniform and flirts with the guests, especially the group of middle aged mothers on a trip without their husbands. It gets him tips, it gets him the flattery he never knew he liked.

The day he feels like he’s going to get a daily heart attack is tuesday. A casual attire day and he’s instructed by Taeil—the head chef who indulges in Sicheng’s sweet tooth way too often—to bring a tray of refreshments to the compound’s south garden. “They’re around our age,” Taeil says in reference to how the majority of the staff are in their forties and fifties. “That’s exciting!” Jaehyun thinks to himself during the walk to the garden. Working with middle aged staff is all A-Ok, but there’s still the obvious generational gap that stops Jaehyun from being completely laxed.

Delivering beverages is an easy task but when he arrives at the garden, he doesn’t think he can do this anymore.

“Hello, I’ve brought some-”

“Ah!” A figure with black hair and subtle silver streaks whips around, pointing the unfortunately flowing hose right at Jaehyun’s abdomen. Three things happen within the next ten seconds; an obnoxious belly laughter comes from another very tall staff, Jaehyun’s clothes stick uncomfortably to his body under the blazing afternoon heat, and the aforementioned figure with the name tag ‘Yuta’ comes rushing to him after dropping the hose.

Jaehyun’s expensive and only shirt of the day—a burberry graphic shirt costing a whopping three hundred and ninety-seven thousand won—is soaked with the water gushing from the hose. There's probably some mud in the mix too. But oh god.  _ Oh God.  _ His ears are on fire and Jaehyun thinks he's in love.

“Oh shit, are you okay?” Yuta retrieves the unaffected tray of beverages, sets it aside on a nearby table and scans Jaehyun for any injuries. Belly laughter guy comes along to fetch himself a tall glass of juice and watches in amusement. “I’m really sorry about that. Someone here,” Yuta turns to half-heartedly glare at his friend, “Thought it was a good idea to put the water pressure on full blast.” 

“My bad, dude,” Johnny, belly laugh’s tag reads, waves.

Jaehyun doesn’t really care, he just wants Yuta to keep talking with that God gifted voice and prettily sculpted lips. “Oh,” he replies dumbly. 

“Yuta! We have some spare clothes in the uniform room. Why don’t you take-” Johnny squints his eyes, “-Jaehyun there? I’ll cover for you.”

Yuta agrees and tugs Jaehyun along. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Johnny sticking a thumbs up with mischievous cheshire cat grin at him.

Events pass in a blur and Jaehyun progressively turns more to jelly. They introduce themselves to each other and while Jaehyun wants to stay, he needs to run off, maybe barge into Sicheng’s office to cry. So that’s what he soon does. 

“Sicheng! Holy shit!” Jaehyun slams open Sicheng’s office doors. He completely ignores Taeil sat on the desk feeding his best friend a slice of cake. “I need to quit!” He’s almost never like this but there’s something about Yuta that draws out a manic frenziness in him.

“No you don’t. You need to work with Yuta no matter how weird your ten minute old crush on him is,” Sicheng explains after he hears Jaehyun’s retelling of the incident. “You don’t get it, Sicheng. If I continue working here, I’ll embarrass myself in front of God!”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Sicheng sighs with a cheek cupped in his hand. They’re about to go one-on-one, a comeback competition between best friends as they would often have in university. Before that happens, Taeil intervenes. “Here,” he points his phone screen to Jaehyun. It’s a chatroom with Johnny.

_ dude _

_ that new guy jaehyun _

_ i think he’s whipped for yuta _

_ mr heart eyes and all _

_ yuta is pretty fond of him too  _

_ said smth about wanting to take care of the newcomers and that he has cute dimples _

“He thinks I have cute dimples,” Jaehyun descends to the carpeted floor. He’s never loved his dimples more than he has now.

“So you’ll stay? You help bring back more customers and it looks good on my profit chart.”

“I think I’ll stay however long Yuta graces me with his presence.”

—

A month passes and Jaehyun can absolutely confirm that he’s deep and pathetically in love. He sees Yuta almost everyday and they become pretty close. To Jaehyun’s absolute joy, he learns that Yuta is very single and also very gay. This is perfect! Still, their new closeness doesn’t erase the butterflies in his stomach. Maybe he was being a bit dramatic on the first day he met Yuta but now, he’s certain that he’s in love with Yuta.

One of the things Jaehyun is attracted to is that Yuta has a food license. Whatever that entails, Jaehyun isn’t sure but it does mean he gets to see Yuta in an apron. On one of the days Jaehyun is tasked to deliver stacks of clean children’s plates piled in his arms to the kitchen, he walks in on Yuta tying an apron tight around his slim waist. 

“Shit,” he mutters and all the plates in his arms drop. He’s too entranced with the elegance Yuta moves with, how his curves beckon Jaehyun to sing praises for them. “Jaehyun! You got to be careful!” Yuta comes trotting over. He checks Jaehyun for any injuries and when he finds none, he squats to the floor to retrieve some of the fallen plates. “ _ You  _ be careful,” Jaehyun hisses, kneeling down and clutching his heart.

If Yuta isn’t careful, he’ll end up rocketing Jaehyun into outer space from the sheer force of how heartbreakingly perfect he naturally is. But just when Jaehyun was about to float into space, a touch on his hand grounds him. He shakes his head like a puppy, looks down at the hand touching his and then back up again. “Are you alright? You’re spacing out,” Yuta asks with worry in his voice.

Without thinking, Jaehyun takes Yuta’s hand into his instead, delicately holding the angel’s hand by his fingers.  _ This would be a perfect position to propose.  _ “I really think we should get married,” Jaehyun blabbers out.  _ Oh No. _

“Huh?”

“I said I feel merry! All good here! Nothing can get this beast down!” Why did Jaehyun say that?  _ Whatever,  _ Jaehyun should abscond as fast as he can. He’s not about to ruin his chances of getting to go on an even remotely romantic date with Yuta, if that day ever comes, by being uncool. Swiftly, he scoops all the plates into his arms and exits the food preparation kitchen. But before he’s completely gone, he pokes his head back in one more time to say bye to Yuta. Yuta beams and waves, appreciating the gesture.

“I like him! He’s got that boyscout energy all of us should have to create a healthy work environment,” Yuta exclaims with arms akimbo on his hips. “Uh huh,” Taeil hums back. Yes, he has been here the entire time. While Yuta resumes his task, Taeil whips out his phone and opens a chat room titled “yujae watch 2020”. 

_ lmaooo you guys won’t believe what i just saw _

Almost immediately, Johnny and Sicheng reply—both urging for a recount.

—

A month passes and Jaehyun sees himself working here for the foreseeable future. His pay is decent, his best friend is never more than a mile away from him, colleagues are great and Yuta’s smile continues to melt him in a flash.

Speaking of Yuta, they continue to grow closer. They’ve reached what Jaehyun would call ‘level seven’, where basically they’re able to talk about their feelings freely and enjoy the natural silence that comes after a hearty laugh. Emotional vulnerability has never been this comforting for Jaehyun. While he’d label his friendship level with Sicheng a solid nine point five, they have their limits to how emotionally vulnerable they let themselves be around each other. 

Not in a weird sort of toxic masculinity way, just more about how they groove.

But with Yuta, Jaehyun feels as if there’s a safety blanket around him. It draws him into a state of reassurance that he never thought he’d need. Times when the country club members chose to hang in places the duo weren’t stationed at, they’d find some place nice to sit. Their shoulders barely touch as they watch the sun dip into the horizon. They’d talk about anything and everything, sometimes becoming more sentimental than expected. Today isn’t one of those days.

“So I was thinking…” Yuta twirls a lock of his jet black hair. Jaehyun hums for Yuta to continue. They’re lounging on the beach chairs, listening to the waves crashing on the shore. “Could you teach me how to flirt?” 

Jaehyun chokes on air. “W-what?”

“Teach me how to flirt! You do it all the time-” Jaehyun thinks he could shrivel up out of embarrassment this very moment. “-to the club members. Don’t think I don’t notice the extra tips they give you in their dinner bill,” Yuta winks.  _ Oh,  _ Jaehyun sighs in relief and slumps back on the beach chair.

_ Wait a minute,  _ Jaehyun’s eyes shoot back open and he falls off the chair. This means he’ll be flirting with Yuta! A very good and bad thing!

“Sooo… Is that a yes?” Yuta leans over to Jaehyun sprawled on the sand. “Yea, yea,” Jaehyun weakly replies. Is he going to be able to survive this?

“Great! The greatest teacher of all time, Mr. Jung Jaehyun, all to myself!” Yuta punches his fist into the air. Golden light from the setting sun splays onto him and the gentle breeze lightly tousles Yuta’s hair. And finally, Yuta turns to look at Jaehyun with dewy eyes. “Thanks, Jaehyun,” Yuta reaches his hand out to Jaehyun. “You’re the best,” and intertwines their fingers.

—

Flirting lessons have been going swimmingly other than the three out of five times Jaehyun runs to Sicheng’s office once the flirting lesson is over to enthuse about how Yuta is getting too good at flirting. Taeil is usually present too, listening with an amused expression. Does this head chef ever station himself in the kitchen permanently? Or is he too busy feeding his boss, and boyfriend, slices of cake?

“Has he always been this good at flirting? I swear he has it out for me. He’s all smooth and flirty! I’m too weak for that. Two weeks ago, he could barely come up with a line. But now? He’s even better than me!” Jaehyun groans.

“That’s a shame, Jae,” Sicheng sighs. At the side of his desk where he and Taeil were, he subtly nudges his boyfriend to look where his pen was pointing to. A page within a folder, more specifically Yuta’s employee profile.

‘Full of charms and ever ready to belt out pick up lines that have guests swooning’, an observation on the document reads. Sicheng knows damn well that Yuta loves indulging in harmless wooing to get some extra tips more than anyone. He sends a cheeky smile to Taeil and receives one in return, all go unnoticed by Jaehyun with his head in his hands.

When Jaehyun is shooed away to tend to his next task, Taeil runs a hand through Sicheng’s soft locks. “A professional flirt barely being able to string out a sentence for Jaehyun, huh?”

“Looks like someone might have it bad for Jae. And look at him now, all brave for Jae. They’ll be together in no time if Jaehyun stops cutting his time with Yuta by scrambling away to whine about how much he loves Yuta,” Sicheng packs away the file and rolls his eyes in false annoyance. He’s happy for his best friend. The skip in Jaehyun’s step and the chirp in his voice tells Sicheng that Yuta is right for him.

“I get it, though. I’d be pretty flustered if a pretty boy started flirting with me,” Taeil leans down and kisses Sicheng’s cheek. Sicheng rolls his eyes again and turns to kiss Taeil back.

—

It’s late in the evening and the two are stationed at the poolside bar. Yuta handles payment and chatting with customers while Jaehyun proves himself as a pretty skilled mixologist.

“You know,” Jaehyun comes up to Yuta’s side. “You have a really soothing voice. It’s nice. You can make anyone feel safe just from talking." Dim pool side lights mask the blush on Yuta’s face as he quickly serves the drink Jaehyun passes him to a customer. With that, they’re alone at the bar again. “No flirting allowed outside lessons. I might end up kissing you senseless if you keep doing that,” Yuta huffs and turns away.

“I mean it, though,” Jaehyun places his hands on Yuta’s waist and slowly spins him around and positions his lower back against the counter. Now, Jaehyun has a good look on Yuta's face with the pool lights as Yuta’s backdrop. “Well, um,” Yuta places tentative hands on Jaehyun’s arms and rests them there when Jaehyun hums encouragingly. “Not many people tell me that.”

Jaehyun leans in closer and a hand comes up to tilt Yuta’s chin up.

_ You got this! Don’t freak out. _

“I’m just one person but I can tell you that many, many times. Whenever you want.”

Yuta nods and his hands move slowly to Jaehyun’s chest. He feels Jaehyun’s rapid heartbeat, coincidentally mirroring his own. “Yea?” Jaehyun whispers in confirmation. “Yea,” Yuta whispers back even softer.

Without an interruption, they bask in silence and each other’s hold. Their eyes scan each other’s face and very soon, down to each other’s lips. “Can I do something crazy?” Jaehyun asks. He doesn’t know when he’ll get this surge of bravery again. It’s now or never. Yuta nods with his eyes still trained on Jaehyun’s lips.

Jaehyun leans in slowly—so slowly so Yuta has time to push away. But he doesn’t.

“Hey guys! Taeil made some extras for tonight’s banquet and- Oh shit!” Johnny comes bumbling loudly towards the bar. Pulled out of their trance, Jaehyun and Yuta rip apart, completely red in the face. The bravery in them instantly dissipates. 

“Uh,” Johnny feels so bad. Like he accidentally walked in on someone proposing. He should leave prompto! “I’ll just leave this here,” Johnny slides the tray of food in small portions on the bar counter and skips away. “Bye!” he fumbles over his words with a thumbs up. “You guys go back to what you’re doing!” he shouts when he’s at least half a yard away.

Unfortunately, they don’t go back to what they were doing. For the rest of their shift, they tiptoe around each other and whenever their fingers touch, they flush red and scutter away instantly.

—

Sicheng is the first to notice the tension between Yuta and Jaehyun. They avoid each other out of shyness, evident in the way they’re always turning to look back at each other, only to scurry off. So as any best friend would do, Sicheng pairs them together for a late night shift. “That’ll do the trick,” Sicheng mumbles proudly. Nothing like a peaceful shift with just the two of them under the starry sky.

Jaehyun is both thankful and infuriated with Sicheng. There he is, on a Saturday night at a quarter past ten with a net in hand. Yuta silently stood beside him, hair tied into a small ponytail. It’s another casual attire day and Yuta wore a black tank top accompanied by dark grey sweatpants. It looks really good on him.

“There’s not much to do so we’ll get done in no time,” Yuta looks at the lack of fallen leaves in the pool. They get started and it’s filled with awkward small talk to compensate for the lack of conversation they had in the past few days. Like Yuta said, they finish in no time. Equipment is returned to the nearby storage shed and it’s time to retire for the night. A quick “bye” from Yuta is said before he briskly walks off. Jaehyun watches Yuta get further and further, maybe representative of what their current relationship is like.

Jaehyun could just continue watching but no. He’s not going to let this happen any longer.

“Yuta!” he shouts and immediately, Yuta spins around.

“I...” Here goes.

“I really, really like you! It’s probably super obvious but I need to make sure you know. You’re funny, smart, sweet and full of love. I want to hold hands whenever we have shifts at the beach and take a walk by the shore. I want to tuck your hair out of your face whenever you get too concentrated on mopping the floors. I want to call you pretty in every way. I want to kiss you so bad, even if people walk in on us! I want to-” Jaehyun is cut off when Yuta suddenly crashes into him, causing him to lose balance and fall into the pool together. 

Instinctually, Jaeyun wraps his arms around Yuta and quickly brings them to the surface. He threads water with his feet easily and thank goodness he left his phone in the locker room. “I want to be your boyfriend!” Yuta exclaims into Jaehyun’s face. His hands are firmly planted on Jaehyun’s chest and the tight grip on his waist keeps him afloat. 

“I want to do everything you just said and more. You laugh even when my jokes aren’t funny. You always help me, even when I don’t ask for it. You make me look forward to the most boring and tedious shifts because I get to spend time listening to you sing even when you think no one is listening. You make me want to be the-” Yuta’s volume softens, “-the perfect boyfriend for you. So what I’m saying is… I really like you too.”

“C-can I do something crazy?” Jaehyun’s heart is beating so fast. Yuta already knows what’s on Jaehyun’s mind and forms a smirk. “Do it.”

Their lips clash together and hungrily lick at each other’s lips. They take turns taking the lead, initially Jaehyun making Yuta into a melted jelly mess and then Yuta who makes multi-tasking a hard feat for Jaehyun. He brings them to the shallowest end of the pool where water only reaches their shins. He sits and invites Yuta onto his lap to continue where they left off. They kiss till their lips are numb and when the night breeze makes them shiver too much.

—

“I can’t believe you liked me since day one,” Yuta rolls onto Jaehyun’s chest.

It’s been two months since they made out in the pool and became boyfriends, much to the celebration of their friends.

“I can’t believe you didn’t think I had feelings for you the whole time,” Jaehyun brings his arms to wrap around Yuta’s waist, squeezing his boyfriend tight and leaving a quick peck on the cheek. They’re both in Yuta’s dorm room, enjoying some privacy to themselves. “I pinned so badly. Sicheng and Taeil had to listen to me whine every time about how amazing you are,” Jaehyun sighs and receives a light punch from Yuta on the shoulder. “Now you can say it all to me,” Yuta mumbles into Jaehyun’s neck. He sounds sleepy. 

Jaehyun strokes Yuta’s hair gently, enjoying the chirps of passing birds and the distant sound of windchimes. He thinks of how perfect their relationship has been. Sure, there’s been bickers here and there but that’s exactly what made it so perfect amidst all the sweet moments they share.

“I think we should get married one day,” Jaehyun mumbles. 

“Huh?” Yuta shoots up.  _ Uh oh. _

“N-nothing,” Jaehyun squirms.

“Babe,” Yuta squints and pinches Jaehyun’s arms.

“I t-think we should get married one day,” Jaehyun looks everywhere but Yuta’s face. He doesn’t receive a reply for a minute and wonders if he made a huge mistake.

“Jung Jaehyun,” Yuta calls and Jaehyun’s head snaps to look into Yuta’s eyes. He barely squirms out a “Yes?”

“Ask me if I want to marry you.”

“Will you marry me?” He asks timidly and muddled in tone.

A few brief moments pass before Yuta breaks into the brightest smile and falls into a crashing kiss.

“Yes,” Yuta says in between hot kisses.

Later that night during their shift at the bar, Yuta saunters up to Jaehyun’s side and slides a plastic bottle cap ring onto Jaehyun’s ring finger. “Love you,” Yuta kisses his cheek and scurries off. 

Jaehyun considers running off to his best friend to gush about how much he loves his boyfriend but instead, he walks up to Yuta and pulls him in for a big bear hug.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> the title of the fic had almost no correlation to the plot itself at first but the more i thought about it, it actually made a bunch of sense to me as this story takes place around the end of spring and the start of summer! the thing i relate yujae most with in this fic is the image of them slow dancing at the shore, foreheads pressed together and giddy in love. the vibes i get from watermelon sugar matches this fic pretty well!
> 
> find me on twitter @opalwinwin 
> 
> and special note for oli: helloo!! i hope this fic made you smile, even if it was just a little bit hehe. happy belated birthday!! ily!!


End file.
